Stanford's quarterback Kevin Hogan gets tackled in the fourth quarter at the 100th Rose Bowl game in Pasadena.

Michigan State's running back Jeremy Langford fumbles the ball in the third quarter and Stanford recovered at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.

Stanford's quarterback Kevin Hogan, left, picked up a big first down in the third quarter at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Wednesday afternoon.

Stanford's head coach David Shaw, right, walks away during a timeout late in the fourth quarter at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Wednesday afternoon.

Michigan State's defensive end Shilique Calhoun, right, and teammate Noah Jones celebrate Michigan State's 24-20 victory over Stanford in the 100th Rose Bowl game in Pasadena on New Years Day.

Michigan State's defensive end Marcus Rush throws Stanford's running back Tyler Gaffney for a loss in the third quarter at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Wednesday afternoon.

Stanford's defensive end Henry Anderson walks off the field after losing to Michigan State, 24-20, in the 100th Rose Bowl game in Pasadena.

A Michigan State player leaves the field with a rose and a win at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Wednesday afternoon.

Stanford's running back Anthony Wilkerson, left, straight arms Michigan State's safety RJ Williamson during a short run in the first quarter at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Wednesday afternoon.

Stanford's linebacker Kevin Anderson couldn't make the interception and inadvertently tipped it to Michigan State's wide receiver Macgarrett Kings Jr. for a reception in the first quarter at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Wednesday afternoon.

Michigan State's safety Kurtis Drummond, left, breaks up a pass intended for Stanford's wide receiver Devon Cajuste in the second quarter at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Wednesday afternoon.

Stanford's running back Tyler Gaffney, right, gets airborne as Michigan State's linebacker Denicos Allen tries to catch him in the second quarter at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Wednesday afternoon.

Stanford's running back Tyler Gaffney, right, runs to the end zone for the first touchdown in the game at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Wednesday afternoon.

Stanford's linebacker Kevin Anderson, left, celebrates his pick six for a touchdown with teammate Jordan Richards in the second quarter at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena Wednesday afternoon. Michigan State's wide receiver Macgarrett Kings Jr. walks off the field.

PASADENA – After a mistake that could have, perhaps should have, cost his team the Rose Bowl, Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook jogged off the field and caught eyes with his coach.

“You all right?” Coach Mark Dantonio calmly asked. The quarterback nodded and gave his coach a fist bump. Then they moved on, no further conservation needed. After all, they had history to make.

Cook rebounded from that comically bad interception and threw for 332 yards, including the go-ahead fourth-quarter touchdown, as Michigan State beat Stanford, 24-20, in front of 95,173 on Wednesday.

“It’s been a roller-coaster ride,” Cook said, “but this is the stuff you dream about when you’re a kid.”

Realizing that dream required patience, but these Spartans major in patience. After all, they’d waited 25 years since the school’s last Rose Bowl game, so they weren’t likely to be rattled by one unsettling play.

So, the Spartans waited. They waited for Cook to come around, after his awful alley-oop lob throw landed softly in the arms of linebacker Kevin Anderson, who returned it 40 yards for a touchdown and a 17-7 Stanford lead. Michigan State hadn’t trailed by double digits in any game this season.

Cook played mistake-free after the interception and led the Spartans’ offense to 17 consecutive points. His 25-yard touchdown to Tony Lippett, early in the fourth quarter, gave Michigan State a 24-17 lead.

The fourth-ranked Spartans (13-1) waited, also, for their defense, arguably the best in the country, to come around. On the game’s first drive, Stanford marched 77 yards on seven plays and took a 7-0 lead. The fifth-ranked Cardinal (11-3) mixed runs and deep passes and seemed to have a winning formula.

Not for long. Other than the odd big play here and there, the Cardinal got nothing. Stanford had just 11 first downs and tailback Tyler Gaffney totaled 91 yards, 47 of which came on one first-quarter run.

“I don’t want to say we were tourists in the first half,” Dantonio said, “but we didn’t have our flash, the emotions we usually have. But like we always have, we recollected. We’re a resilient football team.”

That’s a loaded statement. On the day the Spartans arrived in California, they announced that middle linebacker Max Bullough, their team captain, their emotional leader and one of their top tacklers, wouldn’t play in the Rose Bowl because of an undisclosed violation of team rules.

The Spartans turned to Kyler Elsworth, a senior who had recorded just 10 tackles in 13 games this season. It seemed destined that the game would come down to the Spartans’ defense, and to Elsworth.

After Cook’s go-ahead touchdown pass, with 13:22 remaining in the fourth quarter, Stanford pulled within 24-20 on Jordan Williamson’s 39-yard field goal with 4:15 remaining. Stanford’s defense then forced a three-and-out punt and the Cardinal got the ball back at their 25 with 3:06 to play.

Three runs later, Stanford faced fourth-and-1. The Cardinal lined up in a jumbo package, with seven linemen. Elsworth lined up a few feet away, nearly parallel with Stanford fullback Ryan Hewitt.

Hewitt took the handoff, but Elsworth leaped over the line of scrimmage and tackled him for no gain.

“That’s just the way the world is made,” Dantonio said. “Opportunities come for other players, and they have an opportunity to make good. Kyle Elsworth got a chance, (then) makes the play of the game.”

Michigan State’s defense started slow. Stanford took a 10-0 lead on Williamson’s 34-yard field goal late in the first quarter, but on their next seven possessions, the Cardinal totaled three first downs.

Quarterback Kevin Hogan completed 10 of 18 attempts for 143 yards, but Stanford had no intermediate passing game. Hogan either picked up yards on deep passes, or not at all. The run game was similar. Other than Gaffney’s 47-yard run and a 27-yard reverse, Stanford averaged 2.6 yards per rush.

So, after its early struggles, Michigan State’s defense bought time for the offense to come around.

Cook rebounded from his interception to lead a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 2-yard pass to fullback Trevon Pendleton. It allowed the Spartans to go into halftime down only 17-14.

“I just kind of gathered myself (at halftime),” Cook said, “I just took a deep breath. I was like, ‘We have one more half to play, and I’m going to give it everything I’ve got.’”

Michigan State got its run game going in the second half, as tailback Jeremy Langford gained 52 of his 84 yards. Stanford’s aggressive front seven regularly put pressure on Cook and forced him out of the pocket, but Cook remained poised and avoided another major mistake.

This season started with Cook, a sophomore, in a three-way battle to become the Spartans’ quarterback. It ended with him overcoming a major mistake and throwing a career-defining touchdown.

“He’s played too well in the last nine games to think that we’re going to rattle him,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “He’s made some bad plays before, but just like today, he bounces back.”

Rich Hammond was a high school senior when the Rams left town in 1995, and now he's their beat writer for the Southern California News Group. A native of L.A., Rich broke in at the Daily Breeze as a college freshman and also has covered USC, the Kings, the Lakers and the Dodgers. He still loves sports and telling stories. Don't take the sarcastic tweets too seriously.

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